Manchester United 2-1 Liverpool: United Player Ratings

Player ratings for the Manchester United team that defeated Liverpool 2-1 at Old Trafford yesterday.

David De Gea – 6/10

Professional but unspectacular, De Gea did want he had to when he needed to. Superb save from a Steven Gerrard shot but could only parry the ball into the path of Daniel Sturridge who slotted home.

Rafael – 5/10

Not one of his best games in a United shirt. He completely fell asleep for the Liverpool goal, showing no anticipation which allowed Sturridge to slip away from home unchallenged and score.

Patrice Evra – 6/10

Struggled at times having to march up and down the left side of United’s team all day long. Got forward at key times and produced a solid header for United’s second goal which will cause a debate over whether it’s his goal or Nemanja Vidic’s.

Rio Ferdinand – 6/10

His lack of pace showed, especially when he was squared up by Luis Suarez. However, he did the basics well which made it very difficult for Liverpool to penetrate the middle of the United defence.

Nemanja Vidic – 6/10

Still looks like he’s getting back up to full fitness which is why he was taken off with ten minutes left. He led the defence superbly through a number of spells where Liverpool were probing away and looking for a way through.

Ashley Young – 5/10

Struggled to get into the game in the first half. Didn’t really seem to know whether to try and beat Glen Johnson down the outside or cut back and play through the middle, making himself easy to read.

Michael Carrick – 6/10

Got stuck in when he needed to and nearly always provided an outlet for the defence. His rating is on the lower side because his positioning was poor late on in the match which left gaping great pockets of space.

Tom Cleverley – 7/10

Controlled the tempo of the midfield well and got forward to support Robin Van Persie at the times United switched to a 4-5-1. Nearly scored a superb volley which would have been the goal of the weekend.

Shinji Kagawa – 6/10

Not suited to the left wing at all. He was clearly itching to get into central areas where he could be more effective on the ball which allowed Liverpool to penetrate down the right hand side of the pitch frequently.

Danny Welbeck – 8/10

Welbeck was superb and it’s bizarre to think why there are stories linking him with a move away from Old Trafford. Ran down every single ball, looked dangerous whenever the ball was fed to him and was very disciplined playing out on the left in the last 20 minutes.

Robin Van Persie – 7/10

Not one of his best games for United but his movement for the first goal was superb. He stayed switched on, got half a yard on Daniel Agger and made no mistake with a low and sharp side footed shot.

Substitutes

Antonio Valencia – 5/10

Came on looking to transform the right side of the United but struggled in similar fashion to Young. His pace and movement looked good but the lethal final ball we’ve got used to was lacking.

Phil Jones – 4/10

Came on with just over ten minutes to go to add extra protection into the midfield. Didn’t really have the time on the pitch to have a dramatic effect on the game.

Chris Smalling – 4/10

As above. Came on to provide fresh legs in the middle of the defence but didn’t really make any difference in terms of the late Liverpool onslaught.

Lewis Doe

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